MISSION, B.C. — The manager of a diner where Luke Perry filmed the television show “Riverdale” in Mission, B.C., says fans have been trickling in to reminisce about the actor since his death Monday.

Kelly Sullivan says the CW program based on the “Archie” comics filmed part of its first season at Rocko’s 24-Hour Diner before a replica set was built.

Perry, who played the role of Archie Andrews’ father Fred Andrews, died at age 52 after suffering a stroke.

Sullivan says the diner is thinking of creating a milkshake in Perry’s name but hasn’t settled on a flavour. It already serves 46 flavours of milkshakes, with four named for Archie characters including a strawberry-apple pie “Archie shake” and cherry cola “Veronica shake.”

Perry had a prolific career but is best known for his role as wealthy teen rebel Dylan McKay on “Beverly Hills, 90210,” which ran from 1990 to 2000.

Sullivan says “Riverdale” fans have visited the diner since the show first aired but a few told her Monday they’d come sooner than planned because of the actor’s death.

“It’s a nice place to come and reminisce about him. He was a great actor and a lot of people followed him so it’s nice to come to a place that he actually came to and filmed at,” she said.

Brenna Dempsey and Joanne Crowder said they drove about an hour Tuesday to eat lunch at the diner in Perry’s honour.

The friends, 46 and 44 respectively, said they became fans of Perry while watching “90210” in high school and have followed his career ever since.

“We decided to come to lunch to think about Luke Perry and the sadness of it all,” said Dempsey, who lives in Maple Ridge.

“90210 started when I was in high school. It was something everyone my age was watching and it grew from there, I’ve always been a Luke Perry fan since then,” Dempsey said.

Crowder said she appreciated that “Riverdale” films in Canada, adding that Perry’s “90210” co-star Jason Priestley is from the Vancouver area.

“He was too young, he wasn’t really much older than us,” said Crowder, who is from Port Coquitlam.

Perry had roles in a handful of films, including “The Fifth Element,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “8 Seconds” and “American Strays,” appeared in HBO’s prison drama “Oz” as a televangelist convicted of fraud, and voiced cartoons including “The Incredible Hulk” and “Mortal Kombat.”

He made his Broadway musical debut as Brad in the “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” and starred on London’s West End in another stage adaptation of a film, “When Harry Met Sally.” In recent years he starred in the series “Ties That Bind” and “Body of Proof.”

The day he was hospitalized, Fox TV announced that it would be running a six-episode return of “90210” featuring most of the original cast, but Perry was not among those announced.

On the original series, Perry’s character went from loner to part of a close-knit circle that included twins Brenda and Brandon Walsh (played by Shannen Doherty and Priestley), but also endured a string of romantic, family and other setbacks, including drug addiction. Perry left the series in 1995 to pursue other roles, returning in 1998 for the rest of the show’s run as a guest star.

As the hit Canadian comedy series cements its status as a critical and cultural smash during its fifth season, father-and-son co-creators Eugene Levy and Daniel Levy have announced the story will come to an end next year.

In a statement on Daniel Levy’s social media accounts Thursday, they revealed the beloved half-hour show will wrap up for good at the end of its sixth season. The 14 final episodes are due to begin in January 2020 on CBC in Canada and Pop TV in the U.S.

It’s a decision the Levys reached a long time ago and is one they’re excited about, they stressed in interviews with The Canadian Press, noting they’ve envisioned this final chapter from the beginning.

“I’ve always known how the show was going to end,” Daniel Levy, who is also the showrunner, said by phone from Toronto.

“I’ve always seen every season of our show as a chapter in the story of this family’s life, and we have reached our inevitable conclusion in that story, so it was the right time and it was something that I had been building to for five seasons.”

The Levys also play father and son on the sitcom, alongside Catherine O’Hara as the mother and Annie Murphy as the daughter of the Rose family, who lost their fortune due to a shady business manager and now live in a motel in a small town the dad bought as a joke years ago.

Each character has carved out their own niche in the town over the years, providing nuance and a joyful spirit that has helped “Schitt’s Creek” grow in popularity from season to season.

Where the show once was a modest gem, it now has a spot on Netflix, countless memes and mentions on social media, and accolades from top critics.

“It’s really been quite unbelievable,” said Eugene Levy, a comedy treasure and “SCTV” alum who was born in Hamilton.

“Having a show like ‘Schitt’s Creek’ in the autumn of my years, so to speak, is something not a lot of people get to experience.”

The show has also spawned a live tour with sold-out audiences in Canada and the U.S., won several Canadian Screen Awards, and was up for a Critics’ Choice trophy in January.

“I’m sure people will be questioning, ‘Why walk away when so many people are watching it?'” Toronto-born Daniel Levy said, noting he tries not to pay attention to the show’s buzz because he doesn’t want it to affect the creative process.

“But the reality is, we’ve always been about the show, and I hope that when people watch this last season, they’ll understand that we did nothing but respect that experience.”

Levy said he had a feeling around season 3 that the Roses’ story was halfway through and would be done come season 6. His dad was fully supportive and they’ve been carefully constructing the storylines to reach that conclusion ever since.

“We’re going out on a nice, natural high and never really wanted to risk taking it any further into what I might call the law of diminishing returns,” said Eugene Levy.

Executives at CBC and Pop say they’re sad the show is ending, but they admire the Levys’ commitment to wrapping it up on their own terms.

“It’s creative genius, and who am I to mess with creative genius?” said Sally Catto, general manager of programming for CBC English Television, noting the show has grown the public broadcaster’s audience, particularly its younger demographic.

“It really also became an anchor for a new era of (scripted) comedy at the CBC,” she added.

“I truly think it will be, always, one of the greatest comedies ever created in this country.”

Pop channel president Brad Schwartz, who also worked with Daniel Levy when he was at MTV Canada, said it’s their highest-rated original series and has helped define the network.

“It’s devastating,” he said of the decision to end it. “It’s one of the most proud pieces of content I’ve ever been involved with.

“You don’t get shows like this very often in a career.”

Daniel Levy said he hopes the final season will provide closure and “tell the funniest, the sweetest, the most joyful episodes of our show we’ve ever told.”

And he isn’t ruling out returning to the characters one day.

“I would never say that this is the end. If we get an idea somewhere down the line that feels fresh and necessary and relevant, I would absolutely entertain any form of revisiting these lovely, strange characters.”

The deal is likely to shake up the media landscape. Among other things, it paves the way for Disney to launch its streaming service, Disney Plus, due out later this year. It will also likely lead to layoffs in the thousands, thanks to duplication in Fox and Disney film-production staff.

By buying the studios behind “The Simpsons” and X-Men, Disney aims to better compete with technology companies such as Amazon and Netflix for viewers’ attention – and dollars.

Disney needs compelling TV shows and movies to persuade viewers to sign up and pay for yet another streaming service. It already has classic Disney cartoons, “Star Wars,” Pixar, the Muppets and some of the Marvel characters. With Fox, Disney could add Marvel’s X-Men and Deadpool, along with programs shown on such Fox channels as FX Networks and National Geographic. Fox’s productions also include “The Americans,” ”This Is Us” and “Modern Family.”

The deal helps Disney further control TV shows and movies from start to finish – from creating the programs to distributing them though television channels, movie theatres, streaming services and other ways people watch entertainment. Disney would get valuable data on customers and their entertainment-viewing habits, which it can then use to sell advertising.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said in an earnings call in February that Disney Plus and other direct-to-consumer businesses are Disney’s “No. 1 priority.”

Cable and telecom companies have been buying the companies that make TV shows and movies to compete in a changing media landscape. Although internet providers like AT&T and Comcast directly control their customers’ access to the internet in a way that Amazon, YouTube and Netflix do not, they still face threats as those streaming services gain in popularity.

AT&T bought Time Warner last year for $81 billion and has already launched its own streaming service, Watch TV, with Time Warner channels such as TBS and TNT, among other networks, for $15 a month.

In addition to boosting the Disney streaming service, expected to debut next year, the deal paves the way for Marvel’s X-Men and the Avengers to reunite in future movies. Though Disney owns Marvel Studios, some characters including the X-Men had already been licensed to Fox.

Disney also gets a controlling stake in the existing streaming service Hulu, which it plans to keep operating as a home for more general programming. Family-friendly shows and movies will head to Disney Plus.

No pricing has been disclosed for Disney Plus. The streaming service will feature five categories of material: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. Disney charges $5 a month for ESPN Plus, a service that offers programming distinct from the ESPN cable channel.

Meanwhile, Fox Corp. — the parts of 21st Century Fox that are not part of the deal, including Fox News, Fox Sports and Fox Broadcasting — started trading on the Nasdaq under the “FOX” and “FOXA” tickers on Tuesday.

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